Interview with
by JemTmTraveler
Summary: The mission: An interview with Star Wars creatures... Rated in case decide to continue


Jem: So… when NeoRyu777 was challenged by his coworkers to write "The Eyes in the Forest"

_Sarin: I reminded her that that was a decently "reasonable" explanation so let's find one off the beaten path!_

Jem: Which resulted in this musing. And btw, I had nothing to do with that… it was all his coworkers. All I'd said was "Oo… that's an interesting idea." Which it is and which he pulled off nicely.

Disclaimer: If I owned Star Wars… I probably would have done Episodes 7-9 before attempting 1-3. I mean, if you're going to start with the middle trilogy, make sure the fans won't have to try to adjust to someone being played by a vastly different actor if possible. Because no one is now going to believe anyone else is Luke or Han or… Anyway, rant on that topic done.

._Start Story_.

Traveling the galaxy, it has been assigned to me by the Republic to talk to representatives of cultures our heroes met along the way. My accompanying robot's functions are primarily of those to record these interviews; however it can also protect me if necessary.

Landing on Endor, I was pleased to be greeted by a whole entourage of the 3 foot tall "teddy bear" species, the Ewoks. It looked like everyone in my whole host tribe came to greet me! They were decked out in their finest trophies and headdresses, anxious to meet the guest.

After an all night celebration, I was finally allowed to visit one of the most guarded members of the tribe- their shaman. The shaman is the record keeper, the mystic, and the healer. Not even the chief was quite so protected from outsiders.

Upon entering the tree hut snuggled into the trunk near the chief's, I surprised to see the honey colored bear's house was not as cluttered as I thought it would be considering the shaman's rank in society. The voice which spoke from the Ewok was as sweet as the color of her fur. I wondered if she was younger than I had thought she would be.

"Welcome to my humble abode. I am the shaman Chiutatal."

Chy-oo-tah-tail… it means moon in Ewokese. I gave her my name and gestured at the floating orb at my side, ready to record her. She nodded her consent, and the interview with the Ewok truly began.

Chiutatal:

Our history began long ago, when the Great Spirit of the Forest bore the first of our kind and many others, both our predators and prey. As you probably have heard and seen, quite a few things count as both. As homage to our beginning, to our ancestor, we plant a tree with every wokling birth, which is their tree forever more – guiding them through life and housing them after.

Me:

Do you live in the trees of your ancestors, what with the close bond between you and them?

Chiutatal:

*laughs*

We do not live in our ancestor's trees. There are plenty of old ones to choose from. Sometimes when a new village is being set up, a shaman will ask some of the tallest and oldest trees, to make sure that any spirits that may be there would not mind. Unfortunately, most of the time when there is no village near and the trees are that old, the spirit inside has been forgotten and departed to join the Great Spirit of the Forest…

I stopped for a minute to make sure Chiutatal was alright since she looked so sad at the prospect of a life being forgotten for so long that it rejoins the ultimate ancestor. Ewok ages are somewhat hard to tell for us since they are so little and so furry, but she looked even younger in that moment with tears in her eyes. Once she gave the sign that she was ready to continue, I let my recorder resume our recording.

Chiutatal:

I am shaman, and have been trained since I was young for this life. Some of my station, sad to say, are not as attuned to your… Force… as others. But I was given an invitation to your new Jedi Academy. My predecessor had as well, but he declined since those were the days when it was still stationed on that city planet. *She pauses, thinks, and then…* May ask a question?

Me:

Sure. I don't know if I'll have an answer though.

Chiutatal:

I know you are not a representative for all the species in the Republic, or even your own… but why an entire planet covered by a city? To create this, you would have to remove all the nature from the planet, and if you wanted any, you would have to transplant some into the buildings. Since the Force is that which flows through all living things, is what allows living things in general… why would the place supposed to train the use of the power of the Gods be in a place devoid of their substance and creations?

I had no answer for her. Her view on the Force was not one I had heard before… and I was starting to realize that since they were a hunter-gathering society, the Republic might have underestimated them. Chiutatal allowed me to abstain from answering, since I am not Jedi and merely a researcher. But she did find amusement when I had to come out and ask what had been bugging me since we started the interview.

Me:

Your word choice and thought processes are pretty sophisticated for never leaving Endor. I have heard some of your kinsfolk off planet but...

Chiutatal:

Has not your society had fluxuations in technology? I see the ancestral memory. Before you invented your technology, we had it. Before you were even near searching for other life, we had found it and decided to wait until the rest of the universe was ready. And yet… do you know how destructive those products can be? Lightsabers, which control energy in a condensed form… there is rarely a constructive use for them. Guns only kill, although they would be useful for the hunt.

The Gods allow for a balance. We found excessive technology through the ecosystem out of this balance. Selected shamans sealed most of our technology many lifecycles ago, so most of our people had forgotten these in favor of the old ways. We retained the things necessary, like how to calculate properly for tree-jumping, how to trap food, and protect ourselves from the elements and bigger things.

On that note. the Golden One that came to us to begin the new age with the Republic, god though he may have been, was incorrect in calling our language primitive. Droids are programmed with the language of the Yuzzim, a neighboring species, because some un known species met the Yuzzum first. Our language is no longer complex, but it is… precise. We the Ewok can learn many languages, like this "Galactic Basic" we are using. Not all species are as… fortunate.

Me:

So… are you telling me and therefore the universe that the Ewok culture intentionally… devolved?

Chiutatal:

If you wish to see it that way… We pared down on the unnecessary is all. Your complex language may call ours primitive and our accent such as well, but yours is simply Common in comparison. Perhaps the popular opinion is not always better.

Were I not a researcher and into this interview, I might have become annoyed and insulted. But when she followed it up with the examples of where humans first appeared, on Ancient Earth, then how colonizing included a process of learning what does and does not work on a specific area or planet, it began to make more sense.

Me:

So do you encourage this changing and your people going off world?

Chiutatal:

I feel I need to be diplomatic on that issue. I believe the Great Spirit of the Forest watches over all of us, here or not, and that the Golden One did usher in a new age toward the resurgence of technology we previously deemed irresponsible and dangerous. But I am wary as well because we saw reason to rid ourselves of it before. History repeats if allowed.

Me:

So that's a "not really."

Chiutatal:

I am shaman, not chieftain. So while I am nervous –

Me:

But the chief listens to your decision.

Chiutatal:

I have refused to give it and simply offer my prayers to the Gods that their will and their balance will prevail. As you can see, I did not dress up for this interview (and indeed she hadn't. Her skull hood was hanging in a prominent place on the well behind her; instead a necklace and crown of fresh flowers decorated her fur) and I am careful what I ask for.

A shaman can request anything in exchange for his or her guidance. My guidance is that I wish for peace. The Ewok nations have been to war much and losses during the Battle for Freedom were not light. If this means I oppose reengaging in the harmful technology… I wish what is best for my people. On Ancient Earth, there were these books about hitchhiking the galaxy… even the basic humans knew those least qualified to rule would.

I was speechless. This was the end of my allotted time slot, the end of the interview, and she had just thrown out that comment. She walked me to the door and expressed that she knew I would edit her comments as I saw fit.

Another celebratory feast was thrown, and the next morning it was time to go. Still shocked, I managed to squeeze in a little time alone with the village chief and asked him about Chiutatal. He looked at me as if pondering what he wanted to reply. Finally the answer came.

"Our village took heavy losses. Chiutatal lost family and friends in the war between the Republic and the Empire. It isn't that she holds it against the warring factions; she just doesn't see the point in war. She visits her fiancé every day as well as her parents. She is completely devoted to the Gods and listening for their messages for what to do in the future."

I froze. Her fiancé… she had lost even him in the battle. Her family was gone due to this war, leaving her as possibly the most powerful and influential person in the village and alone. The village was a giant family, raising the woklings together as a whole, but… "She said you had all of our technology and sealed it a long time ago."

"She would know. She speaks directly to the ancestors and the gods. She has had many requests to become one of your Jedi. And she has chosen to stay here to guide and counsel the people remaining.

When people are leaving, she sits with them and talks for hours… she gives them our history and a trophy to always carry to remember home. And, of course, we always welcome our travelers back home should they choose to. She visits their trees once a week and knows when they have come home before an emissary from the Republic is ever sent."

Feeling hesitant, I felt the need to ask "Are all shamans…?"

The chief laughed and shook his head. "She is ours. She is something unlike any other shaman I have ever met or experienced. There are some close, but nothing where the bond with the Force, with the Gods, has been like hers."

Finding a final question before I would be escorted back to my ship, I wasn't sure how to ask. "And the ones who would disagree with her peaceful philosophy, what happens to them?"

The chief looked sad. "She allows their exploration on other worlds. She won't unlock our technology here since she feels it is so dangerous. As for other tribes and shamans, which I know you were also wondering about… she has not killed with her power. She refuses to go to battle, believing her powers to be for encouraging growth in the life trees and talking to the Gods instead of for battle."

She doesn't want any more meaningless death. It was easier now to understand her haughty attitude and comments during the interview knowing that. I was glad to have snuck my recorder on during this one so I could share with my supervisors who had ordered this trip.

As I climbed into my ship, I was surprised to see Chiutatal standing in her regalia in the crowd to watch me go. She hadn't been there to greet me. And while the others cheered, she just watched me, I wondered whether she could see right through me and into my soul. It unnerved me all the way home.

_End_

Jem: This is designed as a one-shot. Although it could probably go into other species…

_Sarin: Hope you liked it. Pease Review!_


End file.
